Gandria, the Gerudo Princess
by Magic Rose
Summary: Chapter Four up. by the way, thanks to a friend of mine for posting this for me Gandria is caught in her little investigation...
1. Doomed Friendship

Author's Note: Whew! It certainly has been a long time since I updated THIS story! This begins about two years before Link 'cures' the Deku Tree. Link, Gandria, and Zelda are all 8.

* * *

"Daddy, I don't see why we have to go," Gandria said, whining a little as her father helped her up onto his enormous black stallion. "I don't want to leave, Nabooru was going to teach me how to use a scimitar properly!" 

"You don't need to know how to use a scimitar; you're a princess--and you're far too young for learning weaponry anyway." Ganondorf said--he was already on the horse, and with a quick flick of the reins they were off.

Gandria just giggled, as the black stallion ran fast...faster... "Weeeeeeeeeeeeeee!"

"Shhh..." he said. When they came up just a few hundred yards away from Lon Lon Ranch, he slowed the stallion down to a mild gallop. "Now, when we get to the castle, try to be on your best behavior."

"And don't make a fool of myself, I know," Gandria said.

"Or me," Ganondorf added.

"Or you," Gandria replied, "So I should just be quiet?"

"Right," Ganondorf said, "Oh, and the King has a daughter...do try to be friendly with her. She may not be very fond of you at first, though."

"Because I'm different?" Gandria asked.

"You might say that," Ganondorf replied. By now they were nearing the drawbridge, and the stallion had slowed down. Once they crossed the drawbridge, the stallion was merely trotting.

Gandria looked all around town, smiling at the people and the little dogs that seemed to be running around everywhere. They were all so different! She had never seen anyone with fair skin, and now, suddenly, she was seeing many of them with fair skin. "Wow..." she said, "Are all people here like this?"

"Yes...they're all fair-skinned...the sun's not as fierce here as it is in the desert," Ganondorf said.

"Wow..." Gandria said.

They went up the little road, getting polite little nods of greeting from the guards who let them through the gates. The stallion was stabled, and Ganondorf lead Gandria into the castle.

Upon reaching the throne, both of them bowed.

"Your...highness," Ganondorf said, rather slowly--as if he were having difficult with the words.

"Ah, King Ganondorf," Daphnes said, "Oh, and you brought your daughter this time! Zelda will be delighted to have a playmate. Impa!" he called suddenly.

And a tall silvery-haired woman with creamy skin stepped out from a side door. "Yes, your highness?"

"Please escort the young princess here to Princess Zelda," King Daphnes said.

With curious eyes, Gandria looked up at Impa. She seemed to stand so tall and straight, as if she had a steel rod running up and down her back. Gandria have never seen a woman so disciplined in all her life. She was suddenly reminded why being a Gerudo was so much fun...there wasn't much use for discipline of this variety.

"Right this way, little princess," Impa said, with a gentle smile, leading Gandria along.

Gandria followed her through a series of hallways and up to a final door, which opened to a courtyard. "Zelda?" Impa asked, "You have a visitor; Princess Gandria of the Gerudos."

Zelda turned around, looking up from the small doll-castle she was playing with. "Oh, hi!" she said, smiling widely. "Wow, Impa, she looks really..."

Gandria started to look to the ground, feeling, well, out of place. Impa gave Zelda a Look and Zelda finished her sentence on a rather awkward note, "She looks really surprised, like she's never seen someone like either of us before. Where are you from, the desert?"

"Yes," Gandria said, "I'm Ganondorf's daughter."

"Oh, so you're the Princess of Gerudos," Zelda said, "It must be weird; living amoung all those women--only women, I mean. And all of them look alike! How do you know which one's your mother?"

"I don't," Gandria said, "I mean--I don't know who my mother is, I never met her. Father tells me she died a long time ago."

"Oh, I'm sorry," Zelda said, and like most children would, gave Gandria a hug to make her feel better about her lack of a mother. Children their age were so attuned to the feelings of others, it was quite adorable.

Neither of them noticed the sudden paling of Impa, who turned away from the two little princesses, seemingly in deep thought. Had they seen her face, they might have asked what was wrong, because it was contorted into an expression which was a mixture of anguish, and anger.

She stood watch over them for a few hours. Noon approached, and she lead them into the kitchens to get something to eat. Smiling as she listened to them chatter on and on about girly things, like nice dresses, and what they wore during warm weather, and the doll-castle. Things like that. Odd, she could have sworn Gandria wasn't a girly girl, but it appeared otherwise now, didn't it?

* * *

Things had certainly changed since that day, Impa thought, watching as Ganondorf approached on his black stallion with Gandria in tow. Then Ganondorf had seemed halfway reasonable, now he barely cast anyone but King Daphnes himself or Gandria a second look. It pained her to think of how Ganondorf used to be, and to know how he was now; it really did.

"Welcome," she said, bowing in greeting. "His highness is very busy, King Ganondorf. Shall I escort the young princess to her usual room?"

"Yes, please do that," Ganondorf said, in an irritated tone--looking rather down his nose at Impa. What a difference two years made, he thought. He hadn't liked the fact that Gandria had made such good friends with Zelda...that would only make what he was going to do even harder to do. And he didn't want this friendship interfering with his plans, not in the least.

But he'd just have to ignore that and let things go as they were. He'd told her to be friendly, and she'd been friendly. This was his own fault, and it wasn't something he could reverse.

He wrote out his plans carefully that night, hiding them away in a pocket of his black armor, somewhere that nobody ever looked; because nobody even knew that pocket was there. If he could get Zelda, then his plans would easily fall into place...then nearly all avenues of failure--for him, at least--would be closed.

He only hoped it would go well. For him.


	2. Power Attained

Author's Note: Thank you all for the lovely reviews. I'm glad you like my story. And I do not own Zelda.

* * *

_"I wish things didn't have to be this way..." the_ _woman said, looking down at the infant's face, and smiling for a moment, stroking the baby's soft skin. The baby grabbed her finger, and tried to gnaw on it._

_"You don't have to leave," Ganondorf said, "You--you can't leave, you--"_

_"I must," the woman said, looking at him from under a hooded cloak, "From the beginning they didn't accept me. Now it has come to this. Either I go, or they..."_

Ganondorf sprung awake at that moment. His skin was icy to the touch, a rare thing indeed for a man who spent nearly his entire life in the desert. He was sweating bullets, and found that he was more than a little dizzy. That dream was so vivid, it was so...disorienting. It was as if it had happened yesterday--thought it had been years before. It was a memory that he was trying desperately to push away; to keep out of his mind.

Because if he thought of it, his nightmare would only begin again.

He tried not to think of what he was going to do as he got up that day. But it would be difficult not to think about it...as he had been planning this for weeks; no, months. He would not let himself be caught up in this same old cycle and let his goal be thrown off once again.

He would have what he wanted. One way or another.

* * *

"Zelda, it's cute," Gandria said, smiling, looking down at the doll she'd just helped Zelda make. It was about a foot and a half long, and looked like a normal Hylian woman--dark long hair, a plain purple dress, and pale skin. 

"Should we make her some shoes?" Zelda asked. "But my fingers hurt from sewing her dress..."

"I'll do it," Gandria said, with a smile, "It won't take long." She started sewing up a tiny pair of boots, and when she finished the boots, starting sewing up something else.

"What's that?" Zelda asked.

"It's a...what's that little musical thingy?" Gandria asked, mimicking an ocarina.

"Oh! An ocarina!" Zelda said, "Now the doll can play some music, too."

Both girls were smiling as Impa came into the room.

"Zelda," Impa said, "Come on, get up. We've got to go."

"Go?" Zelda asked, looking up at her. "But why?"

"I'll tell you later. Go get--you know! Now! Hurry it up!" Impa said.

Zelda hurried off, and then Impa turned her attention to Gandria. "Gandria," she said, "I need you to go back to your room..."

"Why?!" Gandria asked, "Where are you and Zelda going? I want to go too!"

"You can't, child," Impa said.

"Why not?" Gandria asked.

"Because it would be far too dangerous," Impa replied, taking her by the hand and leading her along back to her room. "Gandria, there are some things about your father that you should know. He is not the man you think he is, and I'm--"

Suddenly there was a crash, and a scream. Zelda came running, with something purple in her hand. Well, in both hands. In one hand she carried the doll and in the other she carried an ocarina.

"Hurry...hurry, Zelda," Impa said. As she ran along with Zelda, she cast one last look at Gandria...and then she was gone.

A few minutes later, Ganondorf came into the room, his hands bloodied. "Where is she?" he asked, suddenly bloodthirsty--but when he noticed Gandria was there, he became suddenly mild-mannered once more.

"Daddy, why are your hands bloody?" Gandria asked, hiding the plushie ocarina that she'd made.

"That doesn't matter. Did you see Impa or Zelda just now?" Ganondorf asked.

"Yes. I saw them...they were in a big hurry to leave, and why--" Gandria said, but she was unable to finish her sentence, as Ganondorf just rushed out of the room when she got about halfway through the sentence, and had yelled back at her, "Get in your room, now! It's not safe out here!" What in the world had _that _been about, she wondered? Had he hurt someone or something?

So instead of going to her room, she took a look around the castle.

She was horrified.

There was blood everywhere. Guards were laying dead, stabbed through the gut with their own spears. Some appeared to have been near an explosive when it went off. She nearly vomited more than one time, and then, feeling weak all over, she headed up to her room like her father had told her to. Oh, how she wished she had just done as he said!

* * *

Hours later...Ganondorf returned to the castle, wearing a clean new set of black armor. Once he'd conducted a thorough search of the entire castle, he headed up to Gandria's room, where he found her sitting on her bed reading. 

"Are you alright?" he asked her.

"Yes. I'm fine," Gandria said.

"Good," he said, "I would have hated for you to get injured."

"Why are there dead people in the castle?" Gandria asked, "I..."

"Gandria, don't even think about that..." Ganondorf said, "You're safe. Think about that. I'll have the whole mess cleaned up, and--"

"Where's Zelda?" Gandria asked.

"She's fine," Ganondorf said.

"And Impa?" Gandria asked, "She was trying to tell me something before she left...but..."

"What did she tell you?" he asked, quickly.

"She said something about she was something...but she was in too much of a hurry," Gandria said.

"Well, good," Ganondorf said, "Whatever it was...you didn't need to know it."

"But, daddy--" Gandria said.

"Don't--ask--_again_, got it?" Ganondorf asked.

"Yes, daddy," Gandria said, sighing. She had to find out. What was this secret that he seemed so intent on keeping from her that Impa had been near spilling to her? What was it that he was trying to make sure that she never discovered? She had to find out now, she just had to. If Impa knew it and her _own father _was trying to keep it from her, then quite obviously it was important.

"Good girl," Ganondorf said, patting her on the head, "Stay here, I'll bring you some food in a little while, alright?"

"Okay, daddy," Gandria replied.

* * *

Ganondorf strode into the Temple of Time. The Triforce of Power was his, now. All his. He could mold Hyrule to be how he wanted to, he could change it how he wanted it to be changed. Almost anything he wanted was now within his grasp. 

But it still wouldn't bring her back to him. It wouldn't change what had been stolen from him those years ago. It would not reverse what was now irreversible. It would not bring back the love of his life...

He kneeled before the altar where the three Spiritual Stones rested, and let out a strangled sob.

"Impa...forgive me..."


	3. Light of Discovery

Author's Note: Those of you wanting to see Link; have no fear, he'll show up soon enough. :)

* * *

Seven years had passed since that dreaded day. 

Hyrule had fallen under a blanket of darkness, and Gandria could scarcely believe that her father had become such a monster. Perhaps not to her, but to anyone who crossed him, he would murder them with the slightest provocation.

And then he'd turn around and be overprotective of her. It was a very strange thing to behold...but she never thought of it much. She spent most of her time in the Tower,  
watching Hyrule Field boredly.

Until one evening when she was preparing to visit Gerudo Valley, of course. It had been quite some time since last she had been to the valley, and she was looking forward to spending some time there again, owing to the fact she was quite unused to Hyrule's cold nights.

"I wish you'd reconsider leaving," Ganondorf said, as she was putting the saddle onto her black mare--who happened to be the foal of Ganondorf's black stallion. "These are very dangerous times. You being who you are, there are many people who might wish you harm."

"Father, please! I know how to use a scimitar, and you've taught me some magic. I'll be perfectly safe!"

"And if you see Zelda--"

"I know, I know. Tell you." But if she did see Zelda, she planned on doing nothing of the sort. She still felt the old friendship with Zelda was important, though it had been so long since she had last seen her friend.

"All the same, I want you to be careful," Ganondorf said. "Now go on. Get there quickly."

And so, off Gandria went. For some reason, she found herself heading for Kakariko, instead of Gerudo Valley. She wasn't even sure why, but an odd feeling was telling her to.

Once in Kakariko (and once her mare had been stabled) she walked quietly about, cursing mentally the fact that everytime she looked at someone, they ran from her. She was nothing like her father, but nothing she could say would make a difference.

An older, abandoned house caught her eye. She read the sign placed in front of it: "Impa's House."

So this was where Impa had been born and raised? Curious. Gandria walked in, and almost immediately began coughing. The whole place was so, so dusty, and it looked as if no one had lived there in ages.

She walked up the stairs, and saw on the table a small book whose cover appeared to be leather. Feeling (for some odd reason) scared, Gandria opened the book.

_May 12_

_Today I visited near the Valley of the Gerudos. They are a very strange people, to me, and from what I hear, very dangerous. But I am curious all the same._

_May 14_

_I have been captured by the Gerudos._

_May 15_

_I expected the Leader of the Gerudos to be a woman...but no! It is a man. King of the Gerudos. When I expressed my curiousity he told me that a man only comes along in the Gerudos every one hundred years...and still I am confused._

_This man is handsome, as Kings should be. But he is so young! My age, I believe. I can scarcely believe it, myself..._

_June 3_

_The King of the Gerudos, Ganondorf Dragmire, has released me, and sent me back to Kakariko--he rode with me, to be sure of my safety._

_...I am almost afraid of what I am beginning to feel..._

At that, Gandria shut the book.

A terrible thought had entered her mind--no, a terrifying one. Could Impa be...? No. No, it was impossible.

Hurriedly, she shoved the book into the pack she carried at her side, and headed off to the Valley.

* * *

A week later, she returned to the Tower, the book feeling like a lead weight in her pack. She knew...knew Ganondorf wouldn't be very happy about her finding something like that. She figured he would think that there might be clues of some kind in it that would lead to Zelda, or something of that sort. 

"Who's there?" Ganondorf's booming voice came. He glanced out a window, and on seeing Gandria, lowered the bridge. She came across it in silence.

"Gandria, you were gone longer than I thought you'd be," he said. "How many times have I told you? Be on time. With times as they are--"

"I know. I'm sorry, but Nabooru was showing me some more advanced scimitar moves," Gandria replied. "I can very nearly beat her now!"

"Good," he said, quiet afterwards.

After dinner, Gandria hurried up to her room, locked the door, and opened the journal.

_August 5_

_I've begun visiting the Valley, and the guards there do not seem very happy about it...naturally, because I come to visit Ganondorf. I've begun teaching him more about the Sheikahs, while he has told me more about the Gerudos._

_He tells me the legend behind the Gerudos...that many years ago, the Gerudo men were at war as to who should be king. Five men were left alive by the time the goddesses intervened, and a curse was then put on the race...to have only one man, every hundred years in the race._

_Ganondorf's ancestor was the eldest of the five, and, hence, he became King._

_August 10_

_My birthday. How surprised I was to find the gift of some silver armor at my doorstep! I've been wanting, and needing, armor of that variety, but it was just a little more expensive than I could manage. The note left on it stated it was from Ganondorf._

_I'm beginning to wonder...where is this heading?_

She stopped reading there, and noticed a sort of doodle in the margin. Impa had drawn a picture of the armor in the margin of the journal. It was the same armor she had seen Impa wear so many times before--before her father took over Hyrule. She'd always wondered why Impa was almost always wearing that armor. She'd even asked Impa once about it, and had gotten the answer that it was a gift from someone she used to be close to.

Used to be.

Gandria wondered what had happened. If her suspiciouns were correct, then something had to have happened. What could have happened to split them up? So she continued to read. A few pages seemed to have been torn out of the journal, so she noticed about two years' worth of entries were missing.

_December 3_

_Yesterday, he asked me to marry him._

_So much has happened since the day I first met him. I know there will be risks...but I want to take them._

_I love him that much._

Gandria found herself unable to read further than that. Oh, no. Oh, no, no, no. This wasn't possible. This was not happening. Impa couldn't be her mother...it was impossible! She looked nothing like Impa!

With this last thought, she shut the journal quietly, and hid it under her mattress.

* * *

The next morning, Gandria told her father she'd be going to Kakariko to buy herself some arrows from the shopkeeper there, and she'd be back shortly. Quickly she left, not at all heading for the weapons shop, but for Impa's previous house. 

She was looking for clues. A portrait, a letter, anything!

On the shelf she noticed a picture of Impa, holding a baby...odd. She hadn't noticed that picture before...she shook her head, and started looking through the bookshelf. Perhaps she might find a photo album of some kind...

"You won't find it there," she heard a voice behind her say.


	4. Reasons Why

Gandria turned around...and her jaw dropped. There, before her, stood Impa, who appeared to be smiling.

"I see you've been well on my trail, young lady," Impa said, "...it didn't take you long to find me, either. That was encouraging, it was getting difficult--laying down a clue here or there that you might find. And some, of course, you didn't."

Gandria was obviously still confused, but asked, "Why...didn't you tell me before? Why wait until now?"

"Surely even you know," Impa replied, her eyes quietly traveling over her daughter. "...he was looking for Zelda, and deduces that if he finds me, he finds her. If he were to find you here, then...well, you can imagine the trouble you'd be in, now wouldn't you?"

"There's--" Gandria gulped back a sob--a sob she couldn't even explain. "--so much I want to ask you right now...so many questions that I need answered. What--what can you answer for me?"

"I can tell you only a few things. One, that I did love your father with every fiber of my being. But...the Gerudo did not approve of me. They made many attempts to drive me away. They did everything they could, but nothing changed your father's mind. We married, and for a time were very happy. However, several attempts were made on my life after I found I was pregnant with you. Then, when you were born...I had to leave. I had to, you must understand that. They would have killed me if I had not left. It broke my heart; and his, but I had to leave."

"Mama..." Tears filled Gandria's eyes. Now...now she understood it. So this was--and then, suddenly, something tripped her line of thought. Glancing vaguely upwards, she paused, as if thinking. "Mother. Go."

"Gandria--I sense it too," Impa replied, and after throwing down a Deku Nut, disappeared.

* * *

The next thing Gandria knew, she was back at her father's tower, in his throne room.

"So..." he said. "You thought you could carry out your little investigation, without me finding out, hmmm?"

"Father, I--please, I only wanted to--"

"**_Silence_**!" Ganondorf barked, turning to face her with an expression of seething anger on his face. "How dare you. _**How dare you**_ probe into such a matter as this. I tried to tell you, didn't I?"

"I only wanted to know who she--AAAAAAH!"

Ganondorf had just sent one of his lightning attacks at her. "I don't want to hear any more of your excuses, child. Now. I'm going to be sending you away, for a while, and I **_do not _**want to have any escape attempts made on your part."

"I won't...d-don't worry," Gandria was forcing herself not to cry; the pain of the lightning still seemed to be flooding through her very veins. She leaned against the wall, feeling as though her entire body was throbbing.

"I won't have to worry," Ganondorf replied, still sneering at her. "Because I'm going to have someone guarding you. Obviously I won't trust one of those monstrous beings I used to guard the temples, but I do not see any harm with the guard I have chosen for you."

"Father--"

"Don't 'father' me, Gandria," he said, "...you know perfectly well my reaction to have delicate matters such as this probed into by people who have no business looking into such things."

"But--"

"I said **_QUIET!_**" he roared.

She grew quiet there, and felt the effects of yet another teleportation spell of her father's begin to take hold of her...

* * *

Gandria's next view was at the top of a strange sort of stairway--looking down it, she noticed the stairs were coming out of a waterfall and going down until they disappeared. So this was...wait, where was this? She wasn't entirely sure in any sense of the word of her location...all she knew was she was at a small area, sitting with her back to the wall, where there was a waterfall on one side of her and a seemingly locked door on the other.

Since she didn't feel like risking life and limb, she tried the locked door...no surprise there, it wouldn't open. She noticed a small key at her feet then, and opened the lock with it. The instant Gandria walked through the door and shut it behind her it locked once more.

This room was very strange to her...a thin layer of water was everywhere. Walking past the tree in the midst of the room, Gandria felt a slight breeze...after trying to open the locked door at the other end of the room, she sighed.

Alright, so she was locked in here. Now what was she supposed to do?

She turned back around, and noticed...wait--what was that, standing next to the tree? A shadow of some kind for sure, but she knew from the form that it most definitely was not the shadow of the tree.

Gandria walked forward, until she came closer...and closer...and closer. Finally she was standing in front of the shadow.

Of course, now he didn't much look like a shadow at all.

The thing looked vaguely like a young man she had seen once or twice before, but this one had pale skin and jet black hair, and his tunic was black as well. His sword's handle was a sinister looking navy-blue so dark you could barely tell it even WAS blue, and the blade itself...well, it was so sharp that it looked as if it could cut the air itself and make it scream.

"Who--" Gandria began to speak, but suddenly (his back had been to her, of course) he whipped around, the tip of his blade pointed directly at her throat.

"Do not speak," he said, with a voice that seemed to exude power. "Until I speak..." He sheathed his sword at that moment and fixed her with a stare. "It looks as if I am responsible for keeping you here."

"Y-yes, you...you are, I su...suppose..." Gandria said.

"I have been forbidden to kill you," the stranger said, his left hand resting on the hilt of his sword, "...but I am ordered to keep you here by whatever other means I can."

"I-If you don't mind me asking...what...what's your name?"

"Knil."


End file.
